The Anniversary
by grey
Summary: An upcoming anniversary has one young man leaving on a desperate quest for flowers and forgiveness. Or something like that. A JetxVirginia sort of story.
1. Chapter 1

Yay! My first uploaded fic in nearly a year.

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-

The Anniversary

"Jeez, what's the big deal?" Jet stared at his two older team mates with a sour look on his face.

"Don't you get it?" Gallows looked incredulous, "You hurt her feelings!" the Baskar tribesman exclaimed. He looked over at the green haired man beside him for support.

"Tomorrow is an important day for all of us, Virginia especially." Clive explained, looking sternly at the white haired drifter. He was well aware that Jet had difficulties understanding these things but surely he had some inkling of what he had done.

"Well how the hell was I supposed to know it was such a big deal?" the white haired boy questioned.

Gallows sighed and shook his head,_ only Jet…_ "It's freakin' common sense, you idiot."

"Come on! All I said was that I didn't want to celebrate no stupid anniversary."

Clive arched an eyebrow, "…Strange. I also recall a part where you claimed you'd rather spend the day mourning the time you wasted with us..."

"That…" Jet paused, had he really said that? "That was, uh, simply an exaggeration to illustrate my point"

"…And?" Gallows wondered, "That being?" Both men looked at him. Jet felt uneasy under their reprimanding stares.

"Uh…" he began, "I don't like celebrations?"

"Argh! That was your reason?" the Baskar exclaimed in frustration, "I never thought you could be so selfish."

"Really?" that had Jet curious.

Gallows thought for a moment then scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "…Ok, I forgot who I was talking about" he muttered. "But that's nothing to be proud of!"

"Anyway, that is of little importance now." Clive interjected, "The bottom line is: you owe Virginia an apology."

Their leader had stormed off after the heated argument that had erupted as a result of Jet's thoughtless complaints, leaving Clive and Gallows to scold the boy.

The young drifter looked defiant at first but finally thought the better of it. As much as he hated to relent in any situation he really saw no other end to this quarrel.

"…Jeez, fine. I'll go talk to her." he sighed, then muttered an additional: "…later."

"The anniversary's tomorrow, Jet." Gallows reminded him, "You'd better do it before then!"

Jet scowled, "Yeah, yeah…"

When he was finally left to himself the white haired youth muttered a string of curse words below his breath and kicked a cloud of dust off the ground in frustration.

_How the hell should I have known it was so freakin' important?_ he closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of air in an effort to calm down,_ No one ever told me. Why do girls always have to be so complicated? If she'd just explained it to me, like Gallows and Clive did, maybe I would've apologized right then and saved us all some time……maybe._

Jet sighed wearily. His head was suddenly pounding with a vicious headache.

_…Ok, so I'm not great with apologies… and maybe I shouldn't blame Virginia for my own deficiency. Dammit! If I'd just kept my mouth shut in the first place I wouldn't be in this mess._

The young drifter began walking aimlessly around town so as to postpone the inevitable confrontation with a certain brunette.

_Unless I make up some kind of plan I'll probably screw up,_ he figured._ Hell, I'd probably end up making things worse!_

As bad as it may have sounded it was most probably true. He appeared to have knack for pissing people off through verbal provocation. Intentionally_ and_ unintentionally.

_So maybe I can make things easier somehow? I'm no good with words……so…maybe… I should give her something!_

Jet stopped in his tracks, an exhilarated look came upon his face at this most brilliant idea. The moment didn't last particularly long however.

_…but what?_ Of course that was the catch. The reason he was in this whole mess was his complete utter lack of any kind of social abilities and manners whatsoever. How could an emotional cripple such as himself possibly think of a suitable gift?

What manner of thing would be suitable in this situation? In any situation? What sort of things do girls like? What sort of thing says: 'I'm sorry I ridiculed our one year anniversary as a team and went as far as to call our time together a waste'?

He had no idea. Gella? Probably not. He had a vague memory of hearing somewhere that money made a poor gift. He had never understood why. Ammunition? No… as practical as it might be it was probably wrong. In fact, given his complete inexperience of the matter anything he could think of would probably be the exact opposite of what to really get.

_What would be the opposite of money and ammunition…?_

As luck would have it he didn't have to think too long until his eyes came upon a possible answer. By chance he had caught sight of a flower growing on the dusty ground.

_Of course!_ Jet may have been utterly clueless when it came to these things, but even he had somehow picked up that flowers made great gifts for women.

He reached down to pluck it but stopped half way. Wild flowers were still a rarity in the wasteland. The fact this one had survived long enough to bloom was nothing short of a miracle.

_…Maybe I won't pick this one…_

He retracted his hand. The only places where flowers thrived in any greater quantity were around the Yggdrasil and at Secret Garden.

Not only was Yggdrasil too far away but he also had personal reasons not wanting to return there. To Secret Garden, on the other hand, there was a good chance he could make the trip and be back again before nightfall.

With newfound resolve Jet made his way toward the stables where his horse rested. Beside the flowers, the trip would also give him some time to plan ahead what he would say when faced with the most probably enraged Virginia.

-

xxxxx

-¨

Unbeknownst to Jet however Virginia, who had shut herself inside her room at the inn, had already passed the anger-phase. From there she had proceeded to cry a little despite a strong resolve not to. Then she had spent some time silently cursing him while drying her tears but eventually she had grown tired of even that.

What she was left with was a sad, tiring feeling of disappointment. First and foremost she was disappointed at Jet for acting so cold and inconsiderate but in the end she couldn't help but also feel disappointed at herself for letting it affect her so.

After all, this was hardly the first time Jet Enduro had been acting like an insensitive, thoughtless bastard. She should know better than to let it bother her so much. In the end he usually made for it somehow by saving her from some trap, protecting her in battle or something in the lines of that.

But still, this time he had really hurt her. She had been so excited with their one year anniversary coming up. She had wanted to celebrate the first time they all met, the first time she met him.

Needless to say she was a lot less eager now after the preceding conversation.

And besides, just once it would be nice with a verbal apology…

Laying down with her back on the bed, Virginia stared at the ceiling. Instantly she found her thoughts yet again drawn to the white haired drifter that never seemed to be too far from her mind these days. Was he feeling any regret, she wondered?

There had been times in the past when she had doubted his ability to actually feel at all. But also countless times when she had been ashamed of herself for ever having considered such a thing. Jet had feelings, she knew this of course, but after a year together he still rarely let it show. He also had a great sense of pride which, she assumed, was the reason why apologising was so incredibly hard for him.

Virginia slowly allowed her eyelids to drop.

_You'd better apologise this time, mister…_

_-_

xxxxx

-

Like they had done many times in the past Jet dared the leap over the crevasse en route to Secret Garden. It had been an uneventful and speedy journey so far. Now, safe on the other side, he didn't have to ride long until he spotted the tiny cabin by the edge of the forest.

Pulling at the reigns he caused his horse to slow down as he approached the small meadow encircled by trees where Florina, the little flower girl, had chosen to establish her garden. Leaping down from the saddle he finally led the horse the rest of the way.

She had watched the person as he approached. Now she could see it was Jet but for some reason he seemed to be alone. It was the first time he had ever visited her alone. What could it mean? Florina blushed as certain thoughts entered her young mind. She liked Jet. The boy had a gruff and somewhat cold attitude but she somehow knew that, deep down, he was really a good person. There was something familiar about him too, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She had felt this the first time she met him, then together with Virginia and his other friends.

But now he was walking toward her home all by himself. Had something happened to the others? The little girl felt a twinge of worry …or did he simply wish to see her alone…? Florina shook her head violently to rid herself of such ridiculous thoughts.

_He's probably been sent to get some Potion Berries,_ she told herself.

"Hi" said Jet as he approached her. It felt somewhat strange to actually initiate a conversation for once.

"Hi" the little girl replied in a small, timid voice.

"I, uh…" Jet paused, he was just about to utter a sentence he never would have expected to hear himself say, "…I need some flowers." he looked down at his feet in an attempt to cover his embarrassment. In the back of his head a voice frighteningly similar to Virginia's reprimanded him. 'That's not how you ask for something', it said. "…please." Jet added tentatively, looking up at the diminutive girl.

"Flowers?" Florina looked puzzled. It was a pretty reasonable request given the fact that she owned what was probably the largest garden in all of Filgaia, yet it was nothing she had expected to hear from him.

"Yeah. I sort of pissed someone off and now I need to apologise…" Jet explained sheepishly, momentarily swallowing his pride. Perhaps there was some special flower reserved for apologies, he told himself. Then she would have to know the cause so she could help him pick it out.

"Ok" the flower girl nodded slowly. It seemed like a fairly reasonable situation. Except the fact that Jet was actually going to beg for forgiveness. And with flowers at that. Then again, perhaps she didn't know him well enough to pass such judgement. After all she only met him when the gang came by to pick up healing vegetables. "I can help you with that" she agreed.

Jet looked somewhat relieved, "…Thanks" he muttered awkwardly.

Leading the way over to the flowerbed Florina couldn't keep herself from speaking on the subject of flowers. She didn't have guests every day after all.

"Traditionally there are different flowers suitable for different situations. Red flowers, especially roses as you're probably aware, are common when expressing fonder feelings, most often love, for someone."

Jet was not aware.

The little girl continued. "Yellow roses on the other hand generally represent friendship, so I suppose they would also work as a suitable peace offering to accompany an apology" talking to Jet about flowers, by far her favourite subject, made her immensely happy and helped her forget her shyness. "Is it for…a girl?" she enquired. Flowers almost always were but she felt the need to make sure none the less.

"Uh, yeah" Jet replied. He pictured himself giving flowers while apologising to Clive, then Gallows, and shuddered. That would simply just never happen, no matter what the situation._ Why would she think I'd give flowers to a guy?_

"I see. Well, as a peace offering I wouldn't say there are any specific kinds of flowers that are required…"

"But no red roses, right?" Jet had actually been paying attention for once and he was pretty sure he didn't want to send those kinds of signals to Virginia.

"Well, unless this person is your lover…" the little girl could help but blush for some reason.

"Well she isn't" the drifter replied quickly.

"Ok" Florina was pretty sure it was Virginia they were talking about and she had to admit she was kind of relieved to hear him say that. Even though his quick denial had her somewhat suspicious. "Anyway, since we won't bother with any special traditional boundaries, I'd suggest a nice mixed bouquet."

Given his very much limited knowledge in the field of flowers Jet could think no objections.

"Sounds… good." the white haired boy scratched the back of his head, for the first time wondering what he was really doing.

-

xxxxx

-

A knock on the door woke her up from her sleep. What had she been doing sleeping in the middle of the day anyway?

Another knock. Could it be Jet was finally ready to make an apology? If so, maybe she should let him wait for a while longer?

A familiar voice called from outside, "Virginia?"

It was Clive.

Letting herself out of bed Virginia made her way over to unlock the door. She was met with the worried faces of her two older friends.

"Did Jet happen to pass by here?" Clive wondered carefully. The way he said it quickly had her suspecting something was wrong.

"No…" why did she get the feeling that the reason for their worried expressions wasn't just concern over her?

"I see…" said Clive and shot Gallows a strange look. Gallows returned it.

"Is something wrong?" the girl finally wondered. She didn't for a second doubt there was.

"That punk was supposed to have come here to apologise..." the Baskar tribesman began explaining the situation.

"Now his horse appears to be missing from the stables… along with the 'punk' himself" the bespectacled sniper finished.

"H-He's gone?" Virginia exclaimed.

"It would appear so" confirmed Clive.

She didn't quite know what to think. Jet had… disappeared? Had he finally made reality of his many threats to leave the group? Why now? Was it because of the anniversary? Maybe being reminded that he had actually stayed with them for a whole year had finally pushed him over the edge? Or was it because of their quarrel? But he'd been the one to hurt her feelings not the other way around.

"It's strange, though." Gallows mused, "He said he'd go apologise. I mean you can say a lot of things about Jet but he's not a liar. Most of the time he's more like painfully honest."

Clive nodded. Gallows made a good point. It was true they could not yet rule out the idea that something else had caused his disappearance. But what could that possibly be? Jolly Roger wasn't known for any greater criminal activity and it was hardly the gathering point of outlaws such as say Little Twister was. The idea that he had been kidnapped or something along the lines of that, in broad daylight seemed pretty farfetched.

He looked at their leader to see how she was coping with the situation. Despite their occasional fights it was pretty common knowledge that Virginia was quite fond of the quiet young gunman. Still, with their last argument still fresh in mind, what would she decide?

"Well, what are we waiting for?" when she finally spoke again she seemed to have returned to her usual cheerful self, "Let's go after him!"

The two men stood silent for a moment, baffled by her sudden change.

"...Weren't you just mad at him?" Gallows finally couldn't help but wonder, suddenly seeing her in such high spirits. He had probably thought something along the same lines as Clive.

"Of course I'm mad," the drifter girl confirmed, "but it wouldn't be a real anniversary without him now would it?"

"I suppose not…" admitted Clive.

"We're going to find him, drag him back here and if he knows what's best for him he'd better celebrate with the rest of us tomorrow" Virginia explained slowly with a terrifying, humourless grin spreading across her face.

"Ok…" Gallows instinctively took a step back, what he had mistaken for cheerfulness seemed in fact to be bloodlust. Virginia could really be scary sometimes. The Baskar was surprised to find himself actually pitying Jet, thinking of the hell that awaited him if they caught up to him. But then again, had the punk really tried to run he'd pretty much brought it upon himself.

"Well, I'm all for it," Clive began, "but the problem is we don't know where he's headed"

"Has anyone seen him in town?"

"We haven't really asked around yet" replied Gallows.

"…I suppose there aren't that many places he could have gone from here" spoke Clive again now that he had given it some more thought, "If we head out for Midland Station we ought to be able to pick up his tracks somewhere along the way. Unless of course he has taken some actions to conceal his path…"

"Well, let's get going then!" their leader exclaimed enthusiastically, but there was no mirth behind the grim grin still covering her face. She would hunt him down. And he would pay.

-

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I'm worried that I won't finish this if I try to make it too long so I'll probably end up wrapping it up in the next chapter already. 


	2. Chapter 2

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**The Anniversary**

Part 2:

"Making a good mixed bouquet doesn't necessarily have to be an advanced process." Florina informed him enthusiastically, "First you usually want to select a theme or a central blossom that you wish to feature more prominently or maybe a particular colour you want for the bouquet." with a garden knife she cut a flower with large lilac petals, "A purple lisianthus," she said showing it to him. "Then you create the rest of the bouquet around that initial thought, selecting different flowers with complementing colours."

She would go for purple. Given her taste in clothing it was pretty safe to assume it was a colour Virginia liked.

Jet simply stared as the girl began picking one flower after another gathering them in a small bunch. Feeling utterly out of place being lectured on the basics of flower arrangement he could do little else.

"Another important thing to remember is to use a sharp edge when picking the flowers" she lectured him, as if she felt it was immensely important for him to know about the art of picking blossoms, "Just using your fingers won't do." The little girl shook her head, "It damages the stem, obstructing the water flow and causes the flowers to wither more rapidly."

"Oh" said Jet. Had there been some kind of misunderstanding? Had the girl somehow come to believe he secretly wished to become a gardener?

Some time later, standing beside his horse with the bouquet in his hand, the white haired drifter was well ahead of schedule. There was a good chance he could be back at Jolly Rodger before sunset if he left without further delay.

"I think it's really nice of you..." Florina told him, staring at her feet, "I-I wish a boy would give me flowers…" she went on to sigh wistfully. Coming from her it was a pretty bold statement. Shyly, she looked up at Jet to see if he caught the drift.

Jet, of course, caught no such thing. "But…" he said with a look of confusion, "…you already got your own garden" Why would she need more flowers? It made no sense.

"Still," the flower girl appeared disheartened by his clueless response, "It's not the same thing…" she sighed again, this time out of disappointment.

"It isn't?" the young drifter scratched the back of his head. He had been right the first time: girls are indeed complicated. He would probably never understand them even if he spent the rest of his life trying. He would just have to trust her on this. "Well, I guess I gotta run." he said climbing up onto his saddle, "Thanks, Florina" he actually went as far as to give her a tiny smile of gratitude. The masterfully assembled bouquet in his lap was after all mostly her handiwork.

"You're welcome" Florina returned the smile happily. It had been the first time she had ever seen him do that. It definitely looked better than the scowl he usually wore. The smile remained on her face even as she watched him ride away. At that moment it didn't matter the flowers were for someone else. Jet had never been this nice to her before.

And in the end she sort of knew she was probably too young for him anyway…

Unfortunately she didn't notice the approaching dark skies until Jet had ridden well out of sight. And thus she was too late to warn him.

In most of Filgaia, being the scorched wasteland it was, rain was very infrequent. Even rarer were storms of any other kind besides the ones involving sand. That was why Jet took his time cursing every deity and guardian he could think of when suddenly, out of nowhere, possibly the largest rainstorm in a century happened just as he had left Secret Garden behind him.

Raindrops almost as large as the bullets fired from his Airget-lamh struck his face as he continued forth none the less.

He was still fairly close to Secret Garden but should he decide to wait out the storm there he would probably not make it to Jolly Roger before the next day. Something that would not only send Clive and Gallows into a rage but also make Virginia even less inclined to forgive him.

In other words: it was not an option.

"I never even meant to hurt her" he muttered sullenly, rain entering his mouth as he did so. It was the truth. He'd just been his usual thoughtless self, defending his pride as a lone wolf. And as worthless as an excuse that was, he really hadn't meant to hurt her feelings.

The thought of celebrating their first anniversary as a team had frightened him. The feeling of being bound to a group of people, to belong somewhere was something he had great difficulty accepting. He understood it was something most people savoured and took comfort in. Sort of a safety-by-numbers thing except with more personal ties. But having never before wanted or had any real friends the thought of depending on these people made him very uneasy.

It just seemed like a risky thing to do.

A bolt of lightning caused him to abandon his current train of thought. Although sight was heavily limited by the falling water he realised not a moment too late that he was rapidly approaching the familiar rift in the earth he would have to cross now for the first time under heavy rainfall.

His horse reacted in the right moment and they were soon airborne.

When they touched ground on the other side the animal began sliding across the muddy surface. For a moment he feared the horse would fall over but shortly thereafter it seemed to regain its footing and the two sped off again.

All the while he tried his best to shelter the flowers from the rain he could already make out a few damaged blossoms in amidst his bouquet.

_The guardians must really have it in for me…_ he though and just then another bolt of lightning struck somewhere ahead of him almost as if to confirm his growing suspicion.

-

xxxxx

-

Staring at the water running down the window on the first floor of the inn Virginia looked utterly miserable. Her hair and clothes were completely soaked just from the short run over from the stables and the sudden change of weather had forced her to postpone her hunt for Jet.

At first she had nearly left anyway despite the heavy rain and thunder but in the end even she had realised the futility in doing so. Besides making the idea of travel a lot less appealing the storm had effectively rendered all means of tracking the white haired boy useless. Going out looking for him now would almost certainly amount to nothing except maybe a nasty cold.

_Why?_ she asked herself watching the raindrops trickle down the glass surface._ Why did he leave?_

She was angry with him. But by now she had reached a point where she had to continuously remind herself that that was the case so as not to forget and start worrying instead. She was mad but she had never wanted him to leave.

"Jet" she whispered his name to herself, knowing that no one else would hear as Clive and Gallows had left her alone to think at her own request.

She simply had to find him. That was what she had come to conclude, if only to confirm his reasons for leaving. If he never wished to see her again she would try to accept that, although not before severely chastising him for leaving without any notice.

Her anger momentarily flared up again.

_The nerve of him! Leaving right after a fight like that, without any kind of apology!_

Her anger served her little purpose, however, sitting alone in the small pub area of the inn. Sighing she continued to go over her plans yet again.

After she was done chewing him out, she suspected she would have to do her best not to break down and cry before him. But even then she doubted such a feat would be possible.

Then there was that small part of her that still clung to the hope that he might have been forced to leave against his own will for some reason. It was perhaps a strange thing to hope for, given the fact that he might then be in danger but at least it meant he hadn't wished to leave.

To leave _her_.

If that proved to be the case she would save him. No matter what.

As the uncertainties weighed heavily on her mind, she couldn't help but feel utterly powerless waiting for the storm to end. Why was it that on a planet mainly covered with deserted wasteland, on a planet rarely blessed with any rain at all, a giant rainstorm had to happen just at such a critical time? It simply wasn't fair.

Exhaling a deep sigh Virginia stood up from her seat. She really had to get out of her wet clothes unless she also wished to add sickness to her list of troubles.

-

xxxxx

-

Lightning struck again. Far too close for comfort but it didn't really matter anymore. He had gotten too far to turn around now anyway, so there was really no other option but to continue onward.

He didn't want to push the horse too hard but Jet had just realized that leaving without any form of notice, just letting the others know where he was going perhaps hadn't been the wisest move. He'd been gone for quite awhile now which probably meant his absence had been noted. He could only begin to guess what conclusions that might have lead his team mates to believe. And what manner of hell awaited him upon his return.

_"My intentions were good, dammit!"_ he could already hear himself trying to make excuses in front of a jury consisting of Clive, Gallows and Virginia. As they were already pissed off at him from earlier he somehow doubted their judgement would be particularly impartial.

This could be a serious problem. As if issuing the apology wouldn't be hard enough. No, he would have to take precautionary measures avoiding unnecessary confrontation until he had fulfilled his objective. He would sneak back into town, carefully infiltrate the inn and wait there for the perfect moment to strike.

He had to catch Virginia alone. In order for the apology to go smoothly (as smoothly as possible that was, he did not for a moment think it would be easy) there could be no distractions such as an obnoxious, loudmouth Baskar tribesman or a know-it-all sniper sharing random words of wisdom.

Closing his eyes, Jet, mumbled a prayer to the Guardians asking for success in this possibly lethal mission.

The heavy rain would provide him with cover as he approached town and getting to the inn unseen shouldn't be particularly difficult. It was from there on things might get considerably more problematic. It all depended on if he would be able to confirm the position of the enemy sentries… Clive and Gallows that was.

Knowing where they were would obviously make avoiding them a lot easier.

One problem would be if they were all together in one place say eating a late dinner down in the pub. In that scenario the wisest move might be to wait them out. At one point or another they had to part…unless of course they were waiting for him to return. Now _that_ could prove a problem.

While he was pondering these things Jet finally reached the town of Jolly Roger. Just to play it safe he chose to lead the horse the final part of the way. He had to get the poor creature into the stables and out of the rain before he could do anything else.

While he doubted anyone besides the horses would occupy the building during the storm he still made sure to approach the stables as stealthily as was possible while leading such a large animal. Fortunately his precaution proved unnecessary and he was soon off again toward the inn, having left his four legged friend with its companions.

Every piece of clothing covering his body long since completely saturated, the young drifter didn't even notice crossing the large puddle that had formed in the street in front of the house. His characteristic unruly white hair lay flat on his head and down the sides of his face and he had to blink constantly to keep the rain from ending up in his eyes.

Jet carefully moved toward a window from where he should be able to spy over the pub inside. Unbeknownst to him it was the very same window Virginia had gazed through earlier that evening. Luckily she was not around when he chose to take a quick peek over the windowsill.

Inside Gallows and Clive occupied a table near the stairs effectively rendering it impossible to sneak upstairs. As he watched from out in the rain the Baskar helped himself to a sip of beer from the glass before him. From the looks of it Clive had settled for water, unless of course that clear liquid was some kind of liquor. Jet highly doubted that was the case.

Virginia was nowhere to be seen which probably mean she was up in her room.

A thought struck him then. If Clive and Gallows were alone wouldn't it be a lot easier to simply walk in through the door and explain the situation to them first? They would surely understand if he told them he'd rather apologise to Virginia alone, wouldn't they? That would save him a whole lot of sneaking around…

But then again, if some commotion should break out before he could properly explain himself, then the typically loud voice of Gallows might cause Virginia to rush down from her room. Jet considered the scenario. Knowing Gallows commotion was never too far away. And that was just the case with ordinary Gallows _this_ was Gallows after an unknown amount of beer. The consequences could be dire.

No, today he would play it safe. He would climb the drainpipe up to the second floor, walk across the slippery wet roof and enter through a window.

That settled Jet set his plan into action. He needed his hands free in order to climb so he tried to carry the flowers in his mouth but the taste caused him to stop and think of another alternative. He used the ribbon around the bouquet to fasten it to his belt where it swung back and forth as he scaled the side of the building.

Up on the roof he carefully made it across the wet surface over to the second floor windows. Quickly glancing in through the closest one what he saw caught him so much off guard it nearly caused him to fall backwards off the roof. Instead Jet quickly shifted his balance causing him to instead fall forward. Using his hand to steady himself against the window he hadn't counted on it being unlocked. The window swung open into the room and Jet followed.

Disoriented, laying sprawled on the floor, his initial reaction was to reach for his Airget-lamh ready to strike down any attackers. Then he remembered what he was really doing.

This was no dungeon and he hadn't just gotten caught in a trap. When he got up there would be no monsters ready to pounce him.

The situation was, in fact, far worse than that.

When Jet got up, so did Virginia. It was _her_ room he had happened to peek into. He panicked. She was only wearing a nightgown so his first reaction was to quickly cover his eyes and turn around.

"…Jet?" Virginia still didn't quite know what had just happened. She had been sitting in front of the mirror with her back turned to the windows, calmly combing through her long hair when suddenly an intruder had dropped in from the rain. She studied the boy for a moment. "…What were you doing outside my window?" she finally wondered. There was no catch in her voice no accusation or suspicion, simply wonder.

This didn't make Jet any less of a nervous wreck. "I c-can explain" he stuttered partly out of panic and partly from having spent several hours out in the freezing rain. "…sort of"

He glanced down at the flowers, standing half facing away from her she hadn't seen them yet. The bouquet didn't look quite as good anymore as it had done before the storm. Would it be good enough?

The girl said nothing, probably waiting for this so called explanation.

Jet removed as many damaged flowers as he dared without disrupting the design Florina had created. Without looking at Virginia he then held out the bouquet in her general direction.

"I-"

As if he hadn't suffered enough up to that point, Clive and Gallows chose that very moment, just as he was about to apologise, to burst into the room. Apparently the door had also been unlocked.

"We heard-" the two exclaimed simultaneously before they laid eyes upon the room. What they saw caused the words to fade and froze them solid on the spot.

Everything stood still. Gallows and Clive in the doorway staring with bafflement at the scene before them, Virginia by the nightstand staring at the dripping wet drifter holding out a bouquet of flowers toward her. No one moved. No one said a word. The whole situation reminded Jet of the Mexican standoff that had been their first meeting.

He contemplated for a moment throwing himself back out through the window and disappearing into the storm again, but ultimately he decided against it. What would have been the point of that anyway? Everything had already gone to hell, how could it possibly get any worse?

Be a man. Face the music. You'll survive somehow. He tried to cheer himself up with some mental pep-talk. The effects were very limited.

"You…went and got me… flowers?" Virginia was the first to speak again. By the sound of it she had trouble believing that this was really happening.

Jet took a deep breath. Time to be brave. He would apologise right now even if he had to do it in front of those two morons in the door. "Yes" he stated firmly but that was about as far as his bravery lasted, "I, uh…" he began mumbling, "I wanted…to apologize…"

"We will leave now" he heard the voice Clive say. Dragging Gallows with him, the bespectacled sniper closed the door and left the two youngest team members alone.

"I'm not naked, you know…" Virginia sighed as the boy still refused to look at her.

The word 'naked' did not make it any easier for Jet to turn around. When finally he did Virginia was moving over towards him to get the flowers. He handed her the bouquet, wondering what would happen next.

He had apologised, what happened beyond that he had no idea. His plans had never covered that. Could he leave now, or was that wrong? Was he meant to wait for some kind of confirmation that he was forgiven? That seemed fairly reasonable. He would watch Virginia and see if she gave him any hints.

Not that he was really any good at reading hints.

The female drifter brought the flowers up to her face to inhale their scent. She closed her eyes.

"They probably don't smell much anymore…" Jet spoke in a low voice, "The water must've washed it away."

Virginia shook her head. "No, they smell wonderful" she smiled, opening her eyes to look at him, "Thank you"

Jet looked away, something he usually found himself doing when she smiled at him. Well at least she was smiling, which, unless he had gravely misunderstood women (which on the other hand he might very well have), meant he was forgiven.

"You went to Secret Garden?" she asked him.

"Yeah" he replied while taking a mental note to think things through thoroughly every time before speaking. Another insensitive word out of his mouth and it would all have been in vain.

"I thought… you might've left" Virginia nearly whispered. She held the bouquet close to her chest, "I was going to go look for you." The girl stared down into the flowers.

She clearly remembered being angry with him but couldn't seem to bring the emotion back. Then again why should she hold a grudge? He had apologised, after all, and the reason for his disappearance had been to get her flowers.

Jet didn't know what to reply. She seemed distressed somehow, although he couldn't quite understand why. He was standing right there, wasn't he? It ought to be clear he hadn't left.

He took a small step toward her but stopped at that. For a brief moment he couldn't help but feel pathetically inadequate not knowing how to comfort the struggling girl.

"Sorry" he mumbled, staring at his feet. Why was he feeling like this? Since when did Jet Enduro feel this kind of guilt?

Virginia finally looked up again.

"…You'll celebrate with the rest of us tomorrow?" she asked him. There was still a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Sure" what would have been the point in refusing now? "I, uh, won't complain, anyway…"

Virginia finally smiled again, even wider this time. Jet drew a sigh of relief. "Great!" she exclaimed. She then proceeded to give him a quick look-over, "…You know, you should probably get out of those wet clothes…"

"I think I'd rather do that when I'm alone, thank you" Jet gave her a half-smile.

Virginia turned around and walked over to her nightstand. "That's too bad" she said glancing over her shoulder.

Jet blushed. Despite being completely soaked himself his throat felt surprisingly dry. She was teasing him of course and he scolded himself for letting it affect him.

"Before you go back to your room, could you go get me a vase or something to put the flowers in?" the girl wondered as she didn't wish to leave her room in only her nightgown.

He nodded, relieved that it was finally ok to leave.

When he was alone out in the hallway Jet leaned back against the wall for a short breather. Somehow things were ok again. The flowers had worked. Sure, his entrance hadn't been particularly graceful and despite his evasive efforts Clive and Gallows had seen him with the flowers. But in the end, he figured, it was the result that mattered.

Speaking of Clive and Gallows, perhaps he wasn't as alone as he had first thought…

"So…" Jet pushed away from the wall, "Did you have fun eavesdropping? It's not a very admirable pastime, you know…"

At first nothing happened. Perhaps he had been wrong? Then two very shamefaced drifters appeared from around a corner further down the hallway.

"I tried to stop him… he would not listen" Clive tried his best to explain.

"Ah haha." Gallows laughed rubbing the back of his head. There was no questioning their guilt anymore, "You're not mad are you?" he tried to read the white haired drifter. "I mean we were just curious…"

"Curiosity killed the cat, that's what I told him" Clive interjected.

Gallows glared at his bespectacled friend. If Jet was angry he might take that old saying a little too literally.

But the white haired drifter simply sighed.

"Whatever…"

-

* * *

Well that's it for this one. Thanks for reviewing. 


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